Submitted by Judy Watts

Our new Library has been in use for almost five years and still draws many visitors and requests for tours. This past week, Amara Lakhous, writer and freelance journalist, and film maker from Italy was our guest. Mr. Lakhous, with a translator, was traveling under the auspices of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. His novel, Scontro de Civilta, which won the prestigious Flaiano prize, is a story of how immigrants such as Muslims, Eastern Europeans, and Filipinos, deal with personal identity crises while living in Rome. It was published in Arabic in 2003, Italian in 2006, French in 2007, Dutch and English in 2008, and is currently beiing made into a film. He is known through his novels, journalism, and film making as one of Italy’s most insightful cultural mediators.

While at Middlebury, Mr. Lakhouse met with students and faculty in the Italian Department about his work, gave a lecture on Islam and immigration in Italy, and met with Jay Parini.

Scronto di Civilta has been ordered for our collection.